Commodity in Focus: Passionfruit
Australia produces around 5,000 tonnes of passionfruit annually from major growing regions in the Tweed Valley in northern New South Wales, and along the Queensland cost including the Sunshine Coast, Wide Bay, Daintree, Cooktown and Mareeba.
With many of these regions in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) catchment, the passionfruit industry has an important stewardship role to play in contributing to Reef water quality improvements.
WHAT DOES ‘BEST PRACTICE’ LOOK LIKE FOR PASSIONFRUIT?
Practices that contribute to Reef water quality improvement and are considered as industry standard for passionfruit orchard management include:
Grass cover under trellis and minimisation of bare earth.
Use of mulch and compost to increase soil organic carbon and overall soil moisture holding capacity.
Vegetated gullies or drains between blocks to slow and capture any run-off before reaching waterways.
Soil moisture monitoring devices which measure moisture for irrigation scheduling, conserving water and nutrients in the soil.
Incremental changes to adopt these practices makes a significant contribution to improving Reef water quality and demonstrates industry stewardship in GBR catchments.
Adoption of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) including the use of beneficial insects, frequent scouting, and monitoring, to prevent overuse and resistance of chemicals.
Incremental changes by an entire industry to adopt these practices can make a significant contribution to improving Reef water quality and demonstrates stewardship.
AVERAGE BENCHMARKING RESULTS ACROSS THE GBR REPORTING REGIONS
The graph below demonstrates the average results for irrigation, nutrition, pesticide, and sediment modules for passionfruit growers in each region.
The hatched red line is the ‘minimum standard’ or ‘benchmark’ since the program commenced in 2018. It represents the results practices benchmarked by passionfruit growers between 2018 and 2023.
Average benchmarking results across the GBR reporting regions - June 2024 NOTE: No data available for the Central QLD region.
WHAT IS HORT 360?
Hort360 is a best management practice (BMP) platform developed specifically for commercial horticulture growers to assess land management practices and identify actions to make improvements. It is a free resource for all commercial horticulture growers.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF PARTICIPATING IN THE HORT360 PROGRAM?
For the past decade, the Queensland Fruit & Vegetable Growers (QFVG), through our project delivery arm Growcom, has been supporting growers within the GBR catchment to benchmark nutrient, pesticide, irrigation, and sediment management practices to identify risks to Reef water quality, and support growers in making improvements to reduce those risks and improve their productivity.
Grower participation in the program is important as it demonstrates industry’s commitment to best management practices for nutrient, sediment, pesticide, and irrigation practices, and stewardship for Reef water quality.
Benefits to participation for growers include:
An opportunity to evaluate practices and identify opportunities for improvement while also gaining an understanding of performance against others.
Ability to communicate to staff the farm values regarding commitment to best practice.
Demonstrate to government industry commitment to stewardship.
Promote to consumers and community values towards the environment, profitable sustainability and social values.
Recognition and assurance that practices meet and exceed the standards that contribute to improve local waterways and the water quality of Great Barrier Reef.
Hort360 Reef Certified businesses can also access:
A fully trademarked marketing kit, certificate, and farm gate sign.
Discounts on RapidAim products.
Free training and learning opportunities at workshops and field days run by Growcom.
Support for audit costs associated with Reef Certification.
WHAT DOES WORKING WITH A GROWCOM HORT360 FACILITATOR LOOK LIKE?
Growcom currently has three Facilitators who can assist growers benchmark practices, make necessary improvements, and organise an independent audit. We tailor extension delivery to include as many growers as possible.Our approach includes:
Group activities – field days, workshops, paddock walks
One-on-one farm visits
Grower-to-grower learning opportunities
Connecting growers with expertise and support
Supporting industry and government stakeholders.
